richfig

Rich Fig

I can clearly remember when I was first inspired to play music. I was 7 years old in the back of my parents old Pacer driving into Gloucester when I heard the voice of Sir Paul McCartney. The Song was “Let ‘em In”. At that moment something clicked inside of me, I knew that music was what I needed to be doing. My grandmother was a singer for many years and when she would baby-sit my brother and I, I would always try and match her vibrato and pitches. At the age of 15 I heard my uncle who was a drummer practicing in his basement and I was hooked. I ran up the stairs of the basement frantically and asked my parents for a drum set! They bought me a Pearl Export Series drum set. Silver. I still have it. I played drums in many bands all through high school performing at many bars at night. Trying to get up for school the next day was no picnic but I managed. I then started an original band named “Slyboyz” with a friend of mine. We recorded and traveled throughout the United States for about 5 years and sold thousands of CDs. I was really involved in the writing process with “Slyboyz” along with singing lead vocals on a lot of the songs. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to be a singer/songwriter and not just a drummer. It was a big step for me, but something I needed to do. So, I put down the drums sticks, picked up the guitar and started taking vocal lessons. I figured the best way to gear me up for fronting a band would be to start singing night after night. I then called a buddy of mine who had played in my old original band “Slyboyz”, and asked him if he’d be interested in starting a cover band. That day Mixed Nuts was born. We played 4-5 times a week for 6 years straight. After gigging for 6 years I decided it was time to take a break from that, and hone my writing skills. Originals! I then hooked up with a guitar player who shared the same interests in putting together an original band. In the midst of writing with my guitar player and searching for other players I was contacted by John and Rob who were putting together a cover project. They were in need of a singer so I expressed some interest in checking it out. Two months later, we formed the cover band Audio Underground.